Bypass inquiry hit by another jam

A GOVERNMENT blunder means a public inquiry into a controversial £184m by-pass - already hit by delays - will not now restart fully until after next Easter. The Highways Agency will ask for the extra time after miscalculating how much traffic would use the 3.5 mile Mottram-Tintwistle bypass.

A GOVERNMENT blunder means a public inquiry into a controversial £184m by-pass - already hit by delays - will not now restart fully until after next Easter.

The Highways Agency will ask for the extra time after miscalculating how much traffic would use the 3.5 mile Mottram-Tintwistle bypass.

The hearing was halted in September when the agency admitted it had made mistakes in its evidence.

When the inquiry resumed at Stalybridge Civic Hall in November, the agency asked for another adjournment after its own checks revealed mistakes in the revised evidence. The hearing had started in June and was expected to last just 10 weeks.

A Highways Agency document will say further checks have revealed inconsistencies in speed flow systems, traffic signals and length of link roads, which will affect traffic volumes. The correct information `will not be available until after Easter 2008'.

A spokesman for the inquiry said: "The inquiry will open on Tuesday for the Highways Agency to read out a document. It will adjourn to a date set on the day."

John Hall, from Denton, the inquiry's most outspoken opponent of the by-pass has called for the hearing to be halted as it `is no longer credible'.

The bypass would divert traffic from the A628 and relieve roads in Mottram, Tintwistle and Hollingworth.